Sometimes writing emails takes a long time because it is not easy to find the right words for the letter to be thoughtful and polite. Google already has a Smart Reply feature, which allows users to quickly select the generated responses that the program offers based on the text of the email. It is partly very convenient but random responses to professional emails can do more harm than good. Such auto responses can reduce the connection between sender and recipient, as well as lead to a large number of general and non-individual emails, which in turn can lead to misunderstandings.
Here are some tips on how to write emails:
- Use the right words to greet the interlocutor. You can start your letter with the words “Hey” in cases when it is addressed to your colleagues with whom you are on friendly terms. But if you are writing a letter to partners or colleagues with more professional relations, you should start with a polite greeting like “Hello” or “Good morning”.
- Check your emails for errors. Before sending the email, make sure that you’ve carefully read and edited your letter. You should check for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and any other errors. Due to careless typos in the text, you may not make a good impression on the recipient of the message. Such things look unprofessional and reduce the likelihood that your letters will be taken seriously. E-mail software often provides a number of handy applications to help you, such as Google Spell Check. There are also many applications for browsers providing this service. And don’t forget to turn on the auto-correction function in such cases – it is present in almost every modern smartphone.
- Be concise. Agree, it is always better to receive concise and meaningful letters. They don’t have to be as short as text messages, but these emails are just for quick communication. So if your letter is too wordy, try editing it to make it shorter. Try to write all the needed information in a few sentences. This way you save your time, as well as the time of your interlocutor. Also, keep in mind that recipients usually read the first few lines before deciding whether to save or delete the email.
- Keep calm. Never send a letter if you are too emotional. Instead, try to calm down first and then respond. The best option would always be a face-to-face conversation, but if this is not possible, you can use the phone. This can help avoid conflict.
- Avoid slang expressions. The use of abbreviations, acronyms, and slang words may look unprofessional, and can even confuse the recipient. Make it a habit to write the words completely and use simple terms in your letter to be clear. But there are exceptions, depending on who you correspond with. For example, abbreviations may be acceptable in rare cases when writing an intra-corporate message. But any mail you send, especially to customers, should be written in easy and understandable language.
While it is really important how you write work-related emails, equally important is to have a clean and organized mailbox. When you are less distracted with unwanted and unnecessary emails, your changes to have a professional email correspondence significantly increase. You can manage your incoming emails manually once they hit your inbox, however, this option is rather time-consuming. Otherwise, you can use an email cleaner app or online software to sort and manage your emails automatically making it easier to find important messages among other correspondence.
